Once again, there has been a serious failure to protect the Slane community. More unnecessary loss of life seems inevitable.

The Bypass Slane Campaign is shocked and dismayed by the decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission for the construction of a Bypass around Slane village. Life in the village, over generations, has been overwhelmed by the dangerous volumes of traffic and by the constant threat to life it brings. We now feel that as we have exhausted every avenue open to us that we are now entirely helpless. The decades of inaction and failure to deal decisively with this appalling situation are nothing short of a national scandal.

The Slane Bypass is unlike most other road projects built over the last 15 years, most of which were built primarily to shorten journey times. The clear need for the Slane bypass relates directly to road safety. Twenty-two people have died on the roads of Slane so far, many others have suffered serious injury, while there have been countless, often unreported, lucky escapes. For over forty years our community has been convinced that the only solution to the serious road safety situation is a bypass of our village. Today our hopes of finally being freed from this intolerable situation have been completely destroyed with the decision of the Bord to refuse permission for the Slane bypass.

One of the more striking features of the Oral Hearing held this time last year was that even objectors to the proposal who participated agreed that the ongoing road safety situation in Slane was untenable. We find it difficult to understand how the Bord arrived at a decision that will impact so negatively on our community and ignore the very real dangers we face daily. There has been a serious failure to protect citizens of this State. The future now appears very bleak for Slane. What alternatives are left for us to fall back on now?

The Bypass Slane Campaign will closely examine the report from the Bord and assess what direction we should take from here. However, it is clear that t he full and final resolution of this intolerable situation rests entirely with the Minister for Transport, the National Roads Authority and Meath County Council. Minister Varadkar has repeatedly declared his understanding of the need for the Slane Bypass. In light of the Bord's decision, we will be seeking a meeting with the Minister as soon as possible and we fully expect him to act swiftly and decisively.

This cannot be the end of the line for the people of Slane - there is still a very
big problem to be solved. All that stands between us and the next major incident and inevitable loss of life is an unenforced speed limit and a couple of yards anti-slip road surfacing. Where do we go to from here? Who can we turn to and rely upon? Slane has been let down once again. ______________________________________________

Slane is well known as a accident blackspot. Garda figures confirm this with the stretch of the N2 through Slane village at the top of their list of Collision Prone Zones. There is no publicly available list of the deaths and injuries but to date at least 22 people have lost their lives and countless others have been injured in road traffic incidents on the roads of Slane.

The Bypass Slane Campaign was formed in April 2009 in the aftermath of a serious road traffic incident in Slane Village on 23/03/09. The objectives of the group are to:

Highlight the on-going serious road safety issue in Slane

Lobby both locally and nationally for the fast-tracking of the Slane Bypass

Lobby Meath County Council for immediate safety measures

Meath County Council Publish Further Information Requested by Bord Pleanála

Bord Pleanála made twelve requests for further information additional to the original EIS document (see below). This information has been published on the Meath County Council website and may be accessed HERE. The public will be allowed to make submissions to Bord Pleanála on this further information before 5.30pm 15th October 2010.

N2 Slane Bypass Road SchemeEnvironmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Full details of the proposed bypass route and design may be inspected in the Environmental Impact Statement. <MORE INFORMATION HERE>

View the planned route of the Slane Bypass by clicking the images below. The image on the right shows the proposed bypass route in relation to built and cultural heritage as well as the World Heritage Site boundary (in red) and Buffer Zone boundary (in brown). Note that the Buffer Zone is not part of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.

Report Dangerous Driving

If you observe dangerous driving including speeding please take the registration of the vehicle involved and report the incident to Slane Garda Station 041-9824202 or on the lo-call Garda Traffic Watch number 1890 205 805.

All images on this site have been taken on the roads around Slane.
All incidents depicted have occurred in and around Slane village.

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11th-12th & 14th March 2011
Balloon test successfully carried out over two days in the Boyne Valley.<MORE>

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4th March 2011
Meath County Council announce intention to conduct a 'balloon test' to test the potential visibility of the proposed bridge over the River Boyne between Slane Bridge and Knowth.<MORE>

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January 2011
Part of west wall of Slane Bridge collapses. <MORE>

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17th December 2010
Members of the Bypass Slane Campaign meet with Phil Hogan, Fine Gael Environment spokesman, to brief him on the need for the Slane bypass.<MORE>

***************************************8th December 2010
BSC statement on Four Year Plan printed in Meath Chronicle.<MORE>